Part II: The Cancer Genome: Challenge and Promise

Lecture Overview Bishop begins his lecture with a historical review of the experiments that resulted in the realization that cancer has a genetic basis. He explains that mutations can cause normal cellular genes known as proto-oncogenes to become oncogenes, analogous to jammed accelerators causing uncontrolled cell division. Alternatively, mutations in tumor suppressor genes are analogous to a failed brake system. An accumulation of both types of mutation leads to the development of cancer. More >>

Speaker BioDr. Bishop received his undergraduate degree from Gettysburg College and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. Harvard provided Bishop with his first research experience and introduced him to the study of animal viruses. Bishop completed his clinical training at Massachusetts General Hospital and pursued a research fellowship at the National Institutes of Health. In 1968, he accepted a faculty position at the University of California, San Francisco and remains there to this day. More >>